Special masters report to the Supreme Court on Lake View: biennial adequacy study necessary

The Special masters submitted their report to the Supreme Court today following the case conference held on April 17 (click here for my report on that hearing). Skip ahead to p. 4 of the Masters' report to read discussion on facilities. Foundation funding is on p. 11, growth funding is on p. 13, and categorical funding (ELL, NSL) begins on p. 15. A discussion of teacher salaries begins on p. 16, and the conclusion begins on p. 19. The conclusion ought to be pinned up on every legislator's wall as a roadmap for adequacy for future sessions.

Overall, the masters are satisfied with the work of the 86th General Assembly and state that the success of our public schools depends on a "continuous financial and standards review that the General Assembly has undertaken at this point." I had to quickly skim the Associated Press article after reading the AP headline to confirm that "review" was a reference to the adequacy study and not continuous court supervision. It's apparent that this quote references the Act 57 study in addition to the new legislative obligations as set out in Act 1204 of 2007 (see the bottom of p. 22 of the report). The case is now back in the hands of the Supreme Court for consideration of this report.